Birthdays and more...

My last child will be a ripe 3 years old in less than a month. I wouldn't believe it except that not five minutes ago I caught her in a corner slathering her face with Vaseline. That's "I'm gonna be three!" behavior if ever there was any. (And don't tell me your three year old never slathers her body with goopy crap while knowing full well it's wrong hence the hiding in the corner.)
I'm in the middle of birthday planning. Here's what I know: Kite theme, yellow/green/blue/red striped pillowcase dress with a red kite-shaped pocket and embroidered tail, yellow and lime green plates and cups, a red and blue bandana banner, cupcakes with pale blue frosting and white clouds with a kite-shaped candy nestled on top. We're going to the local dam, which produces a steady billow of wind, to fly kites and run free on what should be a beautiful spring day. In case you can't tell, I'm pretty excited about it (and who cares that Bella keeps saying, "I'm havin' a pwincess pahty!" She'll love it when she gets there.

The only thing I'm not 100 percent about is what to get her. She only says that she wants a pink piggy bank (no, really, that's what she wants -- and I hear it about 15 times an hour), but I bought an Elefun for $5 on Christmas clearance. The mountain man wants to get her a bike and a fish (a fish on a bike?). I want to get her one of those puzzles that are cubes instead of pieces so they make six puzzles instead of one. My heart says she'll be getting all four, though a certain nine year old is gonna be hot considering he only got a video game (which, to be fair, was pricey ... and his birthday is two days before Christmas).

I have many, many decisions left to make, but at least they're fun decisions. Oh, and I don't sew so I have to figure out how to make the dress (and shape a pocket and embroider). Here's the cool part though. CSN stores contacted me this week to offer a product from one of their websites to review. They all kinds of fun stuff, from special needs toys to kids bedding to cookware. After looking through their offerings, I spotted this:

#1. It's the type of puzzle I want for her (because she whips straight through regular puzzles). #2. It's Melissa & Doug (enough said). Ten points to the person who just guessed that my daughter is definitely getting a puzzle for her birthday.

But here's the cool part -- they're sending me two puzzles. One to keep and review ... and one to share with my friends (hint: that's you). I'm not too worried about the review part because (hello) it's Melissa & Doug and they do no wrong (and I'm not fishing for a job if you're reading Melissa and/or Doug, but I wouldn't turn one down either). So be on the lookout for your chance to get a fun puzzle, too.